Climb/Descend Via
I was recently in Arizona for a 135.293 oral exam with the FAA and learned that the local FSDO has been seeing quite a few pilot deviations due to misunderstandings about the appropriate altitudes to fly when given a “climb/descend via” departure/arrival procedure. To be honest, until I started flying internationally, it was somewhat rare to encounter a “descend via” instruction. It seems more common in Europe, probably because many domestic STARs contain “expect” altitude restrictions, and ATC is specifically prohibited from giving descend-via instructions on those procedures. (It’s also worth noting that pilots are not expected to comply with published “expect” restrictions in the event of lost communications, unless...
Read MoreBanned from the Store
The situation reminded me (as many things do) of a Seinfeld episode, specifically the one where Kramer gets banned from a grocery store after demanding restitution for a bad mango. Of course, in my case it wasn’t a store, but rather McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas this past Friday which locked me out. My crime? Flying VFR, apparently. We were cruising over the California/Nevada border with a ground speed of nearly 230 knots. Not bad for a Cirrus SR22. So far we’d only been airborne for 40 minutes and were looking at a total flight time of less than one hour. Again, muy bueno. The weather had been decent. More than decent, actually; I’d managed to avoid any bumps despite the presence of a SIGMET for severe turbulence over southern...
Read MoreThe Connected Cockpit
Aviation electronics have always been a topic of particular interest to me. For one thing, in a previous life I worked as a freelance web developer and computer programmer (read: nerd). As such, I’ve watched the evolution of general aviation avionics with great admiration for those who create them. As a pilot, however, I have to interact with these gizmos all day long, and as an instructor must know the avionics well enough to efficiently teach them to others. This makes them a continual source of frustration because computers are supposed to make our lives easier and modern day avionics don’t always do that. From teaching Garmin’s chapter/page philosophy to learning the Honeywell FMS and SPZ-8400 systems in the Gulfstream IV, it seems I spend...
Read MoreFAA Proposes Class D Airspace at LAX
As Andrew Jackson said during his farewell address to the country, “the price of liberty is eternal vigilance”. Nowhere is this more true than when dealing with our freedom to fly. Thankfully we’ve got organizations like AOPA to help monitor the reams of NPRMs and documents issued by the federal government on a daily basis. I say thankfully because as connected as I am to the industry, there’s no way I could keep up with the blizzard of paperwork flying out of Washington. It’s hard to remember how we did it even half as well before the advent of the world wide web. AOPA recently found a proposed change to the Los Angeles Class B airspace. This change isn’t a physically large one, and it won’t have much if any impact for...
Read MoreBetter or Worse?
That’s what my optomotrist is always asking me as I peer through the phoropter during my annual eye exam. It’s also what I ask myself in the never-ending battle which pits two schools of thought against one another on the state of general aviation in the United States. On one shoulder stands a little guy who points out how flying is becoming less accessible due to escalating costs and regulatory burdens. He says, look at the number of active pilot falling each year, see how airports have become unwelcoming barbed wire fortresses, and notice how even the best primary flight schools are struggling just to survive. His nemesis on the other shoulder, however, points out things like this article heralding the availability of a instrument rating for French...
Read MoreJunk In, Junk Out
The introduction of computerized displays (also known as “glass panels”, or in the FAA’s parlance, Technologically Advanced Aircraft or “TAA”) into general aviation cockpits can mean serious consequences for those unprepared to deal with the complexities involved. Sure, there’s a lot of power and capability present in those computers. They can provide you with wind speed and direction, beautiful color moving maps, an entire continent worth of aeronautical data, and so much more. Terrain databases, traffic alerts, sophisticated autopilots, GPS roll steering, highway-in-the-sky, and so much more. Things we probably haven’t even though of yet. Amazing stuff. Of course, it can be a bit daunting for those who haven’t...
Read MoreAre Needle, Ball, and Airspeed Obsolete?
With the advent of the Glass Age, I’ve been seeing more and more pilots question the need for traditional needle/ball/airspeed instrument skills. Why bother to learn the technology of yesterday, they ask? On the surface, this question makes sense. After all, who even manufactures aircraft with non-glass panels anymore? Heck, even the venerable Legend Cub is being built with a Dynon D10A these days. At my home field, we have a Waco UPF-7 (a 1930′s era open-cockpit biplane) with a Garmin glass panel. It looks more like you’re sitting on the bridge of the starship Enterprise than in a barnstormer ready to dust crops. There’s no doubt that glass panels have fewer insidious failure modes than analog instruments. Instead of an attitude indicator...
Read MoreI Love Days Like This
It’s so rare to get true winter weather here in Southern California. But as Lesley always says, it never fails to rain on opening night, and last night was no exception. Boy did it pour! I nearly broke into a Gene Kelly-esque dance all the way down Avenue of the Arts as I made my way to OCPAC for the opening night performance of Die Zauberflöte. Ave. of the Arts even has the right kind of street lights for it! But there’s something about the ultra-modern look of the theaters which kept me from indulging myself. (Note: I may also have been concerned about looking stupid, although that’s never stopped me before). I’ve been making quite a few flights to northern California lately, and this weather has certainly made that part of my day job...
Read MoreRNAV Approach Quiz
From the “you learn something every day” file comes a fascinating Air Safety Foundation quiz on RNAV approaches. For the non-pilots and/or non-instrument rated among us, RNAV is short for “random area navigation” and for the most part refers to satellite navigation — in other words, GPS. It’s not called GPS because there are other area navigation methods such as loran, omega, inertial navigation, and so on. But they all do the same basic thing, which is to allow a pilot to fly from any random point in the world to any other point. Prior to RNAV, radio navigation consisted of flying from one ground-based station to another. A highway in the sky, if you will, but one firmly tied to the ground. These ground-based stations are...
Read MoreProblems at Socal Approach
What on earth is going on at Socal Approach these days? It seems every time I fly, they find a new way to confuse, infuriate, or disappoint me. Sometimes all three. It really pains me to say that, because my cousin was an air traffic controller and I have the utmost respect for ATC. Hell, when I was a kid, I used to hang out at Anchorage Center’s facility on Elmendorf AFB. It’s not easy controlling traffic in the Los Angeles area. They are beset with personnel shortages, a plethora of trainees, a dysfunctional relationship with FAA management, and high levels of traffic. I try to help them out as much as possible. Speaking clearly, eliminating excess verbiage, being patient when they’re busy. But a guy can only take so much, and in my experience...
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